''The Metamorphosis Melody'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the German

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

band

Midnattsol Midnattsol are a gothic/folk metal band from Germany. The band was founded in 2002 by Norwegian vocalist Carmen Elise Espenæs and German guitarist Christian Hector. The band's name is a modified spelling of the Norwegian word ''midnattssol'', wh ...

. It was released on April 22, 2011 through

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label later ...

. A music video was made for the song "Kong Valemons Kamp" (the first for the band), featuring

behind-the-scenes In film, cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the Filmmaking#Production, production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the E ...

footage taken from the album recording sessions in Mellrichstadt. A limited edition was released with a bonus track and a DVD featuring a Midnattsol live performance of 17 October 2009 at Metal Female Voices Fest VII in

Wieze Lebbeke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of , Lebbeke proper and . In 2021, Lebbeke had a total population of 19.560. The total area is 27.31 km². ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Background

The album was recorded with Alex Kautz as the new Midnattsol guitarist, who joined the band shortly after the release of their previous album '' Nordlys'' in 2008, replacing to Fabian Pospiech. Later, guitarist and composer

Daniel Droste Daniel Droste (born 2 April 1980 in Mosbach) is a German musician. He was a member of Midnattsol between 2003 and 2010, and founded Ahab in 2006. Career Droste was the guitarist of the gothic/folk metal band Midnattsol and is the vocalist, ...

left the band after the recording sessions for the album that finished in 2010 to focus solely on his own band

Abab Abab ('Raise' or 'Grow') was the national anthem of Ogadenia, a country proposed by the ONLF The Ogaden National Liberation Front (Abbreviation, abbreviated ONLF, so, Jabhadda Wadaniga Xoreynta Ogaadeeniya; ar, الجبهة الوطني ...

. To replace him, joined Matthias Schuler as official member for the respective European promotional tour, made between April and October 2011. Compared to their previous work, ''The Metamorphosis Melody'' heads towards a more symphonic Nordic sound and includes some themes inspired by Norwegian folk tales, with soothing vocals coming from the voice of Carmen Elise Espenæs, but less operatic. About the album context, Espenæs said:

..The title refers to different kinds of things. One of the main things that the title stands as a symbol for is that we have changed as a band. The music has developed, you could say that we have gone through a
metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
ourselves in Midnattsol. And one of the reasons why we think that, is because we have gotten a new band member, Alex [Kautz. ..Interview with Carmen Ellise Espenæs (Sonic Cathedrall)
/ref>

Track listing

Limited edition bonus DVD ''En natt i Wieze''

Personnel

Midnattsol

* Carmen Elise Espenæs - Vocals * Birgit Öllbrunner - Bass & Acoustic Bass & Mouthharp *

- Guitar * Alex Kautz - Guitar & Acoustic Guitar * Daniel Fischer - Keyboards * Christopher Merzinsky - Drums & Percussion

Production

* Markus Stock - producer, engineer, mixing, mastering * Stefan Heilemann - artwork, photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metamorphosis Melody, The 2011 albums Midnattsol albums Napalm Records albums